WATCH BELOW: Bush v. Gore—Hanging in the Balance
Twenty-five years after Florida became the epicenter of one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, the key figures who lived through the 36-day battle that decided the presidency are reflecting with WPTV on how those chaotic weeks changed American democracy forever.
The election came down to just a few hundred votes in Florida, with Palm Beach County at ground zero of a recount battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
The butterfly ballot confusion begins
Election Day, Nov. 7, 2000, voters headed to the polls to cast their ballot. In Palm Beach County, there were early signs that something was wrong.
"Probably mid-morning, when several legislators walked in the office, saying that we have a problem," Former Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore told WPTV's Tania Rogers. "And then the phone started ringing, with people saying they thought they made a mistake in voting."
LePore told WPTV that since there were so many presidential candidates, they tried to format the ballot the best they could, especially for the county's large senior population.
WATCH BELOW: 'I was very cognizant of the size of the print on the ballot,' Former Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore tells WPTV
"Trying to make sure that voters with disabilities would have an easy time voting, so I was very cognizant of the size of the print on the ballot," she said. "If we would have put all of the candidates on one page, the type-font would have been pretty small."
On Election Night, it was not only unclear who won the presidency but there was also the discovery of thousands of votes cast for reform-party candidate Pat Buchanan, thanks to the butterfly-ballot format.
"They inserted it into the machine and apparently they weren't paying attention to which hole they were punching," LePore told WPTV, "and a lot of them punched the hole where Buchanan's name was, instead of Bush or Gore's name."
It was the beginning of what would be weeks of recounts and protests.
A commissioner thrust into the spotlight
Carol Roberts was a Palm Beach County commissioner in 2000 who found herself on the canvassing board.
"A canvassing board is a board that's appointed to look at all of the elections when they happen to make sure that their votes are counted properly," Roberts told WPTV's Jon Shainman.
She was only on the board by chance as the Palm Beach County Commission chair in 2000 was on the ballot.
"The county commission turned to me and said, 'You don't mind staying out late,'" Roberts said.
WATCH BELOW: 'We have to be very careful to guard our democracy,' Carol Roberts tells WPTV
Late would be an understatement as the hours and then the days went on without a White House winner. During that time, Roberts was responsible for some memorable moments.
"I move that this board conduct a manual recount of all the ballots for the presidential election for the year 2000," she was seen saying during news coverage at the time.
Roberts said the 2000 election is a story about the importance of voting and the old adage, "every vote counts."
"We have to be very careful to guard our democracy," she said.
The legal battle intensifies
Election night Nov. 7, 2000 was just the beginning of a 36 day showdown to decide the next president of the United States. Florida's 25 electoral votes would determine the outcome. Vice President Al Gore nearly conceded to then Texas Gov. George Bush's narrow early lead, but instead prepared for battle.
Two days later, Gore's campaign called attorney David Boies.
"Asking whether I could come down to Florida for a couple of days and be available to argue if the case went to the Florida Supreme Court," Boies told WPTV's Meghan McRoberts. "Got a copy of the Florida election code, read it on the plane coming down, expecting to be down there for a couple of days, taking one extra shirt. And ended up being down there for almost 30 days."
"What were they asking you to argue for them?" McRoberts asked.
"They had asked for a recount and under Florida law, if an election was close enough, you had a right to a manual recount. And they were simply asking that the law be followed," Boies said.
However, not all counties finished their recounts by a Nov. 20 deadline. That is when Secretary of State Katherine Harris declared Bush the winner, prompting Boies to sue to stop that certification. The Florida Supreme Court agreed with Boies, allowing under votes to still be counted—Those that didn't register a presidential vote.
WATCH BELOW: 'Probably one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court has made,' David Boies tells WPTV
"I think most people thought that the Supreme Court would never take the case," Boies told WPTV.
However, the Supreme Court did in what became Bush v. Gore by an appeal from the Bush campaign.
"Now, the United States Supreme Court, 5 to 4, ultimately held that the Florida law violated the federal constitution in probably one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court has made," Boies said.
To the Bush campaign, it was the right thing to do, but for Boies, a bit of a dark cloud.
"Well, for one thing, I lost," he said.
He added that the Supreme Court should have never taken the case.
"Justice Stevens said we may never know who the winner really was," Boies said.
Secretary of State defends her decision
Former Secretary of State Katherine Harris maintains she simply followed the law when certifying George W. Bush as the winner.
"And in accordance with the laws of the state of Florida, I hereby declare Gov. George W. Bush the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes," Harris said back in 2000.
The presidency hinged on just a few 100 votes, with recounts stretching from polling places to the highest courts.
"The election was the 7th. We were to certify seven days later, and then it got postponed and the Florida Supreme Court came in and violated Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution," Harris told WPTV's Meghan McRoberts, "and took the responsibility away from the legislature and changed the law and extended it to Nov. 26. You know, you can't change the law. The law is written that this is the day."
When some counties missed the recount deadline, Harris certified George W. Bush as the winner, prompting Al Gore's team to take legal action.
WATCH BELOW: 'All I did was follow the law,' Former Secretary of State Katherine Harris tells WPTV
The Florida Supreme Court then ordered thousands of missed ballots to be counted, but the battle continued.
"Palm Beach, just give us four more hours. We're four days later, four months later. They never finished counting," Harris told WPTV.
Through it all, Harris maintained the Department of State strictly followed the law despite national backlash.
"For the press, or anyone, to offer that something happened that wasn't correct and hurt people in this country and make them think that their votes were not counted correctly, it's just so wrong," Harris said, "because every step of the way, we just so strongly followed the law."
It was a decision that brought anger and gratitude, but for Harris, she said the outcome wasn't about preference. It was about process.
"All I did was follow the law. I had to add up 67 counties' vote tallies," she said.
It was a moment in history that still resonates when the fate of the nation was decided here in Florida and accountability was under a global spotlight.
How Palm Beach County rebuilt trust
What happened in the 2000 presidential election redefined Florida's process. The butterfly ballot was not used again. And now, 25 years later, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link is sharing with WPTV how things are done now in Palm Beach County.
"I just came in ready to learn from as many people as I could learn from, reading statutes, understanding what we've been through, and how can we take this forward," Link said.
Link gave WPTV's Jon Shainman a tour showed him what goes on in the different rooms at the elections office.
"So, this room, we do opening of the ballots, tabulation of the ballots, scanning for the audit of the ballots. We'll also do recounts in this room, so everything takes place here," Link told Shainman. "The public needs to be able to trust the process and in order to do that they need to see it and they need to understand it."
Link went on to show WPTV the process and the importance of transparency.
WATCH BELOW: Wendy Sartory Link explains how the county's elections office has transformed into a model of transparency
"It starts down this corridor. They can look in the windows and see TVs as well with different angles. In this room it's our canvassing area. They can watch what's happening in the canvassing room. We wanted to make sure the public could come in, feel like they can see everything. So, from the canvassing board, all of the public area there, we brought in comfortable chairs, coffee, we try to make it very comfortable for people," she said. "They can walk down this whole corridor, look in everywhere that all along the way. And if they feel like they can't see everything as much as they want, there's cameras everywhere and so the public can also watch it on TV right as they're looking through the window at the same time."
The transformation wasn't just about new technology or procedures, but a fundamental shift in philosophy.
"As we were trying to rebuild Florida and Palm Beach County into an area that people could be proud of voting here and feel good about the results, one of the things we said was we have to change the way we look at everything," Link said.
Preserving history and building for the future
Link also showed WPTV a part in the building that encapsulates a portion of history of elections in Palm Beach County with an old voting booth, butterfly ballot and punch card.
"We thought it would be important for people to see where we came from," she said. "I think I was just looking at it saying I can't believe that our country is in this time where we are so uncertain because that's just not been what we, how has existed in the past."
The county has also implemented additional safeguards that go beyond what's legally required.
"With 800 precincts, we need to make sure that the right race in every different combination is on the correct precinct ballot. So, we set up something that's not required by law, but we invite all the parties and all the candidates to come in and look at the ballot, before we finalize it," Link said. "The process is so important, because it's what democracy is founded on is trusting your elections, and if people don't trust the process, they're not going to believe in the outcome. If you don't believe in the outcome, bad things can happen."
